From Amy Thomas, author of Paris, My Sweet. A love affair with Paris, New York, sweets and, now, a little girl named Parker.

Friday, January 23, 2015

Paris on my mind

I’ve been thinking of Paris a lot these weeks. Along with
the rest of the world, I was horrified, saddened and struck in the gut by the
Charlie Hebdo terror attacks. Somehow Paris seems like the kind of place that’s
immune to such ugly acts.

I’ve also been floored, on a personal note, that it’s been
four years since I came home. Six years since I went over. Six years ago, I was
packing and preparing to move to Paris. Incredible.

I also saw a House Hunters International episode (ah, the
benefits of being at home on maternity leave! Daytime TV!) in which a woman was
moving from Maryland to Paris. All the street footage made me pine for a visit,
and a peek inside the apartments made me remember my own whirlwind real estate
tour.

So while I’m clinging to my last days of maternity leave,
and my head and heart are firmly here in Brooklyn, I can’t help but let my
spirit drift across the ocean from time to time, to check in with the dream of
Paris.

I have been doing the same thing .. in a way.I am selling my house to move to something I like better, in a place I like better but not Paris , not Buenos Aires. I daily dream and remember the ordinary days, walking to bakeries, sitting in the parks and people watching, the smiles and gentleness of the people. I am so very homesick for it all.

Your pains aux chocolat picture made me very hungry. I also miss Paris. I used to travel to Paris twice or 3 times a year while my mother was alive, to visit her. I did that for decades (flew maybe there 60 times plus) but now that she is gone I don’t go as often, maybe every other year. We went last May but I don’t think we’ll go this year. I get so homesick that I read all the blogs talking about Paris.